What's a good source for chicory

[Brushpile]

wbpdeer advised planting Chicory. What's a good source, when to plant, and what's a good clover seed to Chicory seed ratio?

 

[Native Hunter]

I plant the following in the fall per acre:

chicory = 2.5 lbs
clover = 12 lbs (white and medium red mixed)
wheat and oats mixture = 40 lbs

I have also mixed in a small amount of brassicas just in case drought hits after planting. The grains and brassicas will generally do good with low moisture that fall, with the clover and chicory coming on the next spring. If you get good rains, you can also get a good stand of clover and chicory that fall.

I have bought the chicory at different places, but I always use a premium chicory such as Commander. Tecomate sells good chicory, but it will be a little higher than run of the mill chicory that you can buy elsewhere. I also use a premium medium red clover such as Barduro.

I'm not going to get into the BOB seed, penny pinching argument that erupts every time someone mentions premium seed in a post. For red clover and chicory I believe in premium cultivars. For most other stuff like grains, I just buy what is cheap.

Good luck Brush. You are going to love Chicory. Your friend Wayne is a wise man........

 

[THE LLC]

Check with Hancock Seed in Florida. Pretty good place to get what you need.

 

[MarkDarvin]

If you're not doing much, I'd just get a bag of Monster Mix from Tecomate. I've used that before and it worked well. The chicory filled in nicely when the clover got torched by the heat.

 

[dogdoc]

I have had very good luck with the tecomate chicory. My last planting was chicory from a co-op. I don't remember the variety and it wasn't foraged nearly as heavily as previous planted tecomate brand. If I could it again I would pay a little more for the tecomate brand.

 

[Scott44]

I usually get mine locally but I see Welters has it.
http://welterseed.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Retail-Price-List-2017.pdf

 

[Brushpile]

I knew that the blue flower I see growing on the edge of the road was Chicory, but didn't realize it was the same Chicory planted in food plots! Thanks for all the info, this forum never fails!

 

[Doctorbrady]

Brush, my local Race Brothers store usually has it on the shelf. The one in Springfield may carry it as well.

 

[Elkaddict]

I get mine from Welters or Deer Creek. I try to get a 1:5 or 1:6 ratio with clovers. I include it in all white clover mixes, not with red I plan to till under within a year.

 

[Native Hunter]

I knew that the blue flower I see growing on the edge of the road was Chicory, but didn't realize it was the same Chicory planted in food plots! Thanks for all the info, this forum never fails!

Brush, they are the same and deer will eat both, but you will see a lot of difference in the palatability of the "forage chicory" that is bred for food plots versus the wild ones along the road. The wild variety will get less use as it becomes less palatable - especially as the plant matures.. The forage varieties have bigger leaves and they are less waxy as the plant ages. I never see chicory in my food plots become unpalatable with age, and I've had pictures of deer pulling the roots out of the ground and eating those too.

 

[wbpdeer]

I can say that I did use the Monster Mix from Tecamate before. It did well.

Native Hunter's mix would give you an excellent stand and draw in the location we spoke about.

Wayne

 

[Brushpile]

Will chickory grow in shaded areas? The bottom land where I'm planting has Johnson Grass, but Johnson Grass doesn't grow in shade, so will Chickory grow where there is not enough Sun for Johnson Grass to survive?

 

[E_308]

Chicory is one of the few that is about the same price at the seed store (Welters) and at Cabelas with a deer on the bag. Last time I planted it I bought the Tecamate 3 lb bag. Deer ate it well and it lasted a few years before I tilled it up. I plan on putting in some clover chicory blends this fall.

 

[Redonthehead]

Brushy - take a drive down to Nixa Hardware, they have it and you can buy it by the pound.

 

[dogghr]

Had good luck recent years with WHI especially if you catch it on sale and any of the box stores or theirWHI online site . Native and I used to joke how they ignored my chicory and they still prefer it least over clover and alfalfa. But the secret is to allow it to grow at least a foot tall. And it is great drought resistant plant much like alfalfa. I have mine mixed in with my clovers and also in my alfalfa/clover plot. It sits on a dry south facing ridge top and the chicory and alfalfa just laughs at the heat. I use 2-3#/ac and overseed or plant with a crop.

 

[Brushpile]

Will Chicory grow in partial shade where Johnson grass won't grow?

 

[Chainsaw]

Brush, It grows well in my driveway plot under and around the apple trees; It's partial shade but not heavy shade. I don't know about heavy shade. I do know that chicory is an automatic to be mixed in with my clover patches. It's biggest two attributes are it will grow with very little soil or moisture and the deer eat it in the fall. It practically grows in asphalt here.

 

[Native Hunter]

I think heavy shade would be a problem.

 

[M. R. Byrd]

Here in Dodge City our soil runs about 7.5-7.9 pH. The ranch averages about 18 inches of precipitation annually. I have planted various things over the years, including turnip, radishes, clovers, sugar beets, alfalfa and those plants have done well but very little browse. The thing that the deer will eat into the ground is chicory. Chicory and winter wheat seems to attract the most deer in my area. With winter wheat being a primary ag crop here, I intend to plant more chicory this year.

 

[Brushpile]

I think heavy shade would be a problem.

Shade isn't heavy. There is an opening in the bottomland trees where a large garden was planted. Johnson Grass is encroaching along the edge of the garden.